Advisor Profiles

David Tank, Ph.D.

Princeton University

David W. Tank is the Henry L. Hillman professor of neuroscience and molecular biology at Princeton University and Co-Director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He also directs the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics. Dr. Tank earned his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics at Case Western Reserve University in 1976 and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from Cornell University in 1983. From 1983-2001 he was a research scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ, and became a Bell Laboratories Fellow in 1999. From 1991-2001 he served as Department Head of the Biological Computation Research Department. In 2001, he moved to Princeton University, becoming a founding Co-Director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute in 2005. His research interests include the measurement, analysis, and modeling of neural circuit dynamics. At Bell Laboratories he contributed to the development of attractor network models of neural decision-making, the development of functional MRI imaging, and the development of cellular resolution optical imaging of neural dynamics. More recently, his work has focused on the mechanisms of persistent neural activity and the development and application of rodent virtual reality systems combined with optical imaging and electrophysiology to study neural circuit dynamics during navigation.